Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Empowerment in conjunction with Peace in the Hood________________________________________Mr. James E. DonaldChairmanGeorgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr., SESuite 458, Balcony Level, East TowerAtlanta, Georgia 30334-4909

September 17, 2011

Re: Troy Davis

On behalf of The International Council for Urban Peace, Justice and Empowerment, weare asking you to have the courage to stop the execution of an innocent man, TroyDavis. The International Council for Urban Peace, Justice and Empowerment is thelargest National Network of grassroots, faith and community based organizationsdedicated to Urban Peace, Justice and Empowerment in the United States. The Councilserves as an umbrella organization with over 35 affiliates throughout the UnitedStates and globally. For over 17 years, the Council has sponsored several NationalUrban Peace (Street Organization) and Justice Summits. The Council has initiatedprevention, intervention and transformation work all over the U.S. and globally toaffect change in the lives of youth impacted by racism, poverty, inequality andinjustice.

Rarely has a case attracted the international attention and support as this case.The facts are undeniable: 1) seven of the original nine witnesses recanted theirtestimony stating they were coerced by strong arm tactics of the police who wereinvestigating the murder of one of their own; 2) one of the remaining two witnesses,Redd Coles was himself a suspect at one time; 3) three witness stated that the sameRedd Coles confessed to them that he murdered the off duty officer; and 4) there wasno physical evidence connecting Mr. Davis to the crime.

Consider the words of U. S. Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun:

"Twenty years have passed since this Court declared that the death penalty must beimposed fairly, and with reasonable consistency, or not at all, and, despite theeffort of the states and courts to devise legal formulas and procedural rules tomeet this daunting challenge, the death penalty remains fraught with arbitrariness,discrimination, caprice, and mistake."– U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry A.Blackmun, February 22, 1994

Now consider these facts on the death penalty from the Death Penalty Fact Sheet onthe Death Penalty in the United States:

• Studies by such organizations as the United States General Accounting Office, theAmerican Bar Association, and The Yale University School of Law have all concludedthat the most reliable indicator of whether or not the death penalty will be soughtis the race of the victim. Prosecutors are more likely to seek the death penalty ifthe victim is white and the perpetrator if African American or a person of color.

• The death penalty is not enforced on any geographically consistent basis. Almost80% of the executions are in the south, yet the South had the highest murder rate inthe United States according to the F.B.I. Uniform Crime Statistics in 2008. TheNortheast, which had the lowest rate of executions (less than 1%), had the lowestmurder rate. (Death Penalty Fact Sheet)

• Of the death row inmates, 42% are Black. In death penalty states, 98% of the chiefprosecutors are white.

• In death penalty cases, 75% of murder victims were white. Nationally, only 59% ofmurder victims were white.

• Execution is more expensive than lifelong incarceration and in some cases, cancost tax payers as much as $250 million dollars per case (California).The standard for convictions and death penalty cases is clean and convincingevidence. This was clearly not met in the case. Clear and convincing evidence is notthe word of two people (one of whom was a suspect). In appeals, the state has arguedprocedural issues-not the guilt or innocence.

The standard for a civilized society is not what someone has a right to do, buthaving the moral courage to do the right thing. In this case, we stand as a unitedorganization and say that the right thing to do is to commute the death sentence ofan innocent man. Killing people to teach people that killing people is wrong doesnot make moral sense. The evidence is not there, but the racism and the notoriouspolice blue line of protecting their own and revenging their own is there. We askyou to look within your own conscious and have the courage to do what is right. Donot execute an innocent man. Do not participate in a legal homicide.

Break the Chains.info

is a news and discussion forum for supporters of political prisoners, prisoners of war, politicized social prisoners, and victims of police and state intimidation.

This blog is organized and updated autonomously of the disbanded Break the Chains Prisoner Support Network formerly based in Eugene, Oregon. While this online project shares several of the same concerns as the old Break the Chains collective, no formal organization exists behind the current web presence.

"I will never surrender my pride and dignity nor allow the system to 'cut my tongue' and I will always, without fear, speak out against these war crimes and crimes against humanity, no matter if I spend the rest of my life in a prison cage, and draw my last breath of air laying down in this steel bed surrounded by razor-wire fences and cages, and its prison policies that are designed to destroy one's humanity…."